1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a tray transportation device, and more particularly to a tray transportation device with two sets of operation handlers which moves together in order to increase the efficiency of transferring trays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the semiconductor device production process, the wafer test process is performed before the wafer dicing process by the automatic test equipment (ATE) to ensure the quality of electrical characteristics of the semiconductor device. After the wafers are divided into dies, a die sorter is used to pick up and place the dies on trays. The tray transportation device of the die sorter has great effects on the efficiency of the die sorter.
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show a schematic side view and a schematic top view of a conventional tray transportation device, respectively. The conventional tray transportation device 10 includes a tray storage tank 11, a transfer stage 12, a pushing lever 13, an operation handler 14, an unload stage 16, a unload handler 18, and a tray storage device 19. The tray transportation device 10 also includes a die pick-and-place head 17.
The tray storage tank 11 is used to store a plurality of trays 2, and the tray storage tank 11 has a tray exporting device 112 so as to export one tray 2 at one time. The pushing lever 13 is disposed under the tray storage tank 11 so as to push the tray 2 exported from the tray storage tank 11 to the transfer stage 12.
The transfer stage 12 is used to carry the tray 2 exported from the tray storage tank 11, and the transfer stage has a buffer area 121 and an operation area 122. The operation handler 14 is disposed on the transfer stage 12 so as to push the tray 2 on the transfer stage 12 and make the tray 2 move on the transfer stage 22. The die pick-and-place head 17 is disposed on the operation area 122 so as to pick a plurality of dies of a wafer and place the dies on the tray 2.
The unload stage 16 is used to carry the tray 2 transferred from the transfer stage 12. The unload handler 18 is disposed on the unload stage 16 so as to handle the tray 2 on the unload stage 16. The tray storage device 19 is used to store a plurality of the tray 2.
FIGS. 1C-1H show the operation process of the tray transportation device shown in FIG. 1B.
FIG. 1C shows the pushing lever pushes the tray 2 exported from the tray storage tank 11 to the buffer area 121 of the transfer stage 12.
FIG. 1D shows the operation handler 14 moves to the buffer area 121 and pushes the tray 2 on the transfer stage 12. At the same time, the tray storage tank 11 exports one tray 2 to the position in front of the pushing lever 13.
FIG. 1E shows the operation handler 14 pushes the tray 2 to the operation area 122. The die pick-and-place head 17 (not shown) is able to pick a plurality of dies of a wafer and place the dies on the tray 2. At the same time, the pushing lever 13 pushes the tray 2 exported from the tray storage tank 11 to the buffer area 121 of the transfer stage 12.
FIG. 1F shows the operation handler 14 pushes the tray 2 which has been filled with dies to the border between the transfer stage 12 and the unload stage 16.
FIG. 1G shows the operation handler 14 moves to the side position against the tray 2 and pushes the tray 2 towards the unload stage 16. At the same time, the tray storage tank 11 exports one tray 2 to the position in front of the pushing lever 13.
FIG. 1H shows the operation handler 14 pushes the tray 2 to the unload stage 16, then the unload handler 18 pushes the tray to the tray storage device 19. The operation handler 14 repeats the operation process mentioned above, the operation handler 14 moves to the buffer area 121 and pushes the next tray 2 on the transfer stage 12.
The conventional tray transportation device 10 mentioned above has only one operation handler 14, and achieves the purpose of moving the tray 2 on the transfer stage 12 by the operation handler 14. However, as the operation handler 14 has push the tray 2 to the unload stage 16, it takes long time for the operation handler 14 to move from the position of the unload stage 16 to the position of the buffer area 121 so as to push next tray 2. The die sorter has to wait for the operation handler 14 until the operation handler 14 finishes the movement. It is time-waste and decreases the efficiency of the die sorter.
For the reason that there are some disadvantages of the conventional tray transportation device mentioned above, a need has arisen to propose a novel conventional tray transportation device to solve the problem that the die sorter has to wait for the movement of operation handler and increase the efficiency of the die sorter. The novel tray transportation device is also capable of improving the efficiency of equipment which is similar to the conventional tray transportation device.